Being a bail bondsman is a continual crap shoot. And as First Assistant District Attorney Fran Chardo sees it, Dauphin County bail bondsman James Fabie gambled and lost.

Chardo is arguing that Fabie rolled snake eyes when he put up $25,000 bail for Rudolff Zigray, a defendant in a drug trafficking case who then went on the lam.

Now, with Zigray still at large and a forfeiture order hanging over his $25,000 bail, Fabie has three choices. He can either find and turn in Zigray, pay the $25,000 or lose his bail bondsman’s license.

Fabie was scheduled to face President Judge Todd A. Hoover for a hearing today on a rare revocation petition Chardo’s office filed seeking to strip him of his bondsman certification. However, Hoover delayed the hearing at the last minute at the request of Fabie’s newly-hired lawyer, Karl Rominger.

Rominger said afterward that the odd circumstances of Zigray’s case may get Fabie off the hook for paying Zigray’s bail and also save his license.

“Mr. Fabie is prepared to meet any and all obligations imposed on him by the law,” Rominger said. “But I don’t think anyone would pay $25,000 if they didn’t have to.”

Fabie’s dispute with the district attorney’s office is unusual. Chardo said his office has sought only two or three revocation of bail bondsmans’ licenses in the last decade or so. “We really started policing it heavily 13 or 14 years ago,” he said.

Cumberland County District Attorney David Freed said his office has never sought to revoke a bail bondsman’s license in the 12 years he’s been a county prosecutor. Bondsmen in his county have always paid up when their bets on criminal defendants went sour, he said.

“We’ve come close (to seeking license revocations) a few times, but we were always able to work them out,” said Freed, the GOP candidate for state attorney general.

Fabie has been licensed to operate in Dauphin County since 2009. He is among more than 30 bondsmen and bonding agencies listed by the county clerk of courts office as eligible to do business in the county.

Normally, bondsmen post bail for criminal defendants after the accused pay them 5 to 10 percent of the bail amount. Bondsmen are responsible for the full bail only if their clients don’t show for their court appearances, including their sentencings if they are convicted or plead guilty or no contest to their charges.

Fabie’s problem can be traced to when state police arrested Zigray in connection with a drug investigation in Penbrook late last year. According to court records, Zigray was charged with receiving packages of marijuana — about 5 pounds total — from a Colorado supplier via FedEx.

Chardo is claiming that Fabie is responsible for paying Zigray’s $25,000 bail because Zigray didn’t show for his preliminary hearing in the felony drug case. A bail forfeiture order was filed in May.

By law, Fabie had 20 days to pay the bail or find Zigray and arrange for his surrender or apprehension, Chardo said. He said the license revocation petition was filed with the county court because Fabie hasn’t done either.

“The difficulty of being a bail bondsman is you’re placing a bet,” Chardo said. “You’re betting on human nature.”

The revocation action likely would be dropped if Fabie pays up, he said.

Fabie couldn’t be reached for comment. Rominger said a quirk in Zigray’s case might spare Fabie from having to cough up the $25,000.

He noted that even though Zigray didn’t appear for his preliminary hearing, District Judge James A. Lenker dismissed the drug charges, citing a lack of jurisdiction. When the district attorney’s office challenged that ruling, Hoover overrruled Lenker’s decision, reinstated the case, and ordered the bail forfeiture.

Rominger said he believes that Fabie’s obligation to pay Zigray’s bail ended when Lenker dismissed the case. “I’m investigating that now,” he said. “It’s not clear whether the (bail) bond is enforceable.”

Meanwhile, even though he may have no legal obligation to do so, Fabie continues to invest time and money to try to find Zigray, Rominger said. He said Fabie believed he had located Zigray several days ago and alerted police, but that Zigray was gone by the time officers arrived.

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